Local area networks (“LANs” or “networks”) allow multiple electronic devices, such as computers, printers, scanners, cameras, various sensing devices, stereo equipment, etc. (collectively “network devices”), to communicate with each other and with other electronic devices over a shared connection to a wide area network, such as the Internet. Networks have become common in offices and home settings. Networks may be configured as “wired” networks, “wireless” networks, or a combination of the two. “Wired” networks allow network devices to communicate with each other over electrical wires (i.e., data cables) and “wireless” networks allow network devices to communicate with each other without the use of data cables, such as over radio frequency or infrared transmissions.
Network security is a concern with virtually any network. Wireless networks are particularly susceptible to being accessed by unauthorized users. For example, virtually any wireless-enabled network device can access a wireless network if the wireless-enabled device is brought into range of the transmitted wireless communications of the network. To prevent unauthorized access, many networks (both wired and wireless) use various encryption techniques to encrypt the communications between authorized network devices. In this way, only network devices that have been previously “added” to the network and thus know the encryption keys can decrypt the encrypted network communications. As a result, encrypted networks are more secure than non-encrypted networks.
It is common to add new network devices to an existing network from time to time. Adding a new network device to an encrypted network, though, tends to require a relatively higher level of skill and knowledge of network encryption, protocols, etc. that is beyond many mainstream network users. Accordingly, adding new network devices to an encrypted network can sometimes be difficult for relatively non-sophisticated users. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for adding a new network device to an existing network that is both simple and secure.